Travel Blog

Welcome to the New Tauck travel blog! We hope you enjoy our weekly updates, photos, and special insider tips on some of the world's most popular destinations. Along the way, we'll also be bringing you stories from Tauck travelers and insights from the Tauck family. Have your own suggestion for a story? Just write to us at social@tauck.com.

I saw The Great Land through London’s stories of survival in the wilderness, of rugged, hearty men on the trail in the frontier, trying to survive against the odds in battle with the harsh forces of nature, often encountering bizarre circumstances that could only happen in Alaska.
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To me the word “Danube” always sets off the soundtrack of The Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss in my head. I can’t see that word without hearing a little blurb of that soaring melody and the exuberant, widely swinging waltz beat that Strauss popularized. That music almost can’t fail to lift your mood.
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The tiny archipelago of volcanic islands 600 miles west of South America in the vast Pacific is unique in many ways. But it seems a most unlikely place to alter the course of history. And yet, in a very real way it did. It can really be said that these islands played an important role in shaping the destiny of humankind.
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I love the December holiday season when the year slows down heading into the winter solstice and the normal activities of the world pause to give recognition to certain values that seem to get lost during the year.
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When I was in grade school I was often in the presence of gray-haired ladies, such as school teachers, guidance counselors, nurses, den mothers, etc., who often addressed children as “dear.” At that time I gave no thought to what the word meant. It was just the way they talked. It was almost like an expletive, a sound with no definition...
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Thanksgiving weekend is considered to be the heaviest travel weekend of the year, but it’s different from most travel. For most people Thanksgiving is a special day once a year for spending time with family or close friends. It’s not necessarily a trip back home in the geographical sense, but it’s a journey back home for the ...
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I grew up in the middle of America far from any ocean or mountains, far, I thought, from anything that mattered. It seemed like everything that happened happened somewhere besides the Midwest. I wanted to travel to places where things were happening. In my fantasies I traveled the world, to all the exotic places I had learned of in books or movies....
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Since 2000 I have been aware of President Bill Clinton’s People to People program because it provided the opportunity for Americans to travel to Cuba for the first time in decades. It created a way for Americans to travel legally to Cuba even though our government has maintained an embargo on Cuba since the early ‘60s.
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Amsterdam is such a special city in so many ways, it would be hard to catalogue them. I feel a special connection to Amsterdam because New York, my home, was originally New Amsterdam. It was founded in 1625 by the Dutch West India Company. And even though it was later taken over by the British and eventually became part of the United States, the or...
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It’s a recurring theme with me. It often seems that we live in troubled times. But perhaps the times are no more troubled than the times have always been throughout history. Maybe it just feels particularly rough when I see so many disturbing stories firing at me from all sides 24/7 through a variety of media channels in a news world that nev...
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Ah … now, as we slip into September there has been a break in the weather in the Northeast. The temperature is in the 70s. The cool temperatures are startling, like a memory from the deep dark past. It is a reminder that the dog days of summer will soon be coming to an end.
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Sometimes it seems travel and the news are diametric opposites, one canceling out the other. When I am traveling I don’t often catch the news, and I find I don’t miss it. In fact it’s a relief not to hear the incessant prattle, that tense tone of voice relating so many disturbing events. Unlike movies or literature, which often gl...
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When someone asked recently which of the wilderness experiences of my life have had the most profound effect on me, the first thing that came to mind was gorilla trekking in Rwanda. It is really in a class by itself. Scientists say gorillas share 98 percent of human DNA. As close as we get to our pet dogs and cats, how amazing to encounter a fellow...
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Growing up in a small town in the bucolic Finger Lakes Region, of Upstate NY, I found that, despite the serene beauty of the hills and lakes that surrounded me, I had always yearned to experience something larger... be more adventurous somehow.
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I just returned from some weeks in the wilderness, and I am still buzzing and glowing from the charge of being immersed in nature. I know that we’re always really immersed in nature, even in the city. But I think we city folk need to periodically get away from the artificial environments to remove our blinders and really look at the world we'...
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Polar Bear:
The distinctly identifying white fur of polar bears is in fact an optical illusion. Beneath their thick coat, polar bears actually have black skin! Their hollow fur is translucent and only appears white because it reflects visible light, just like snow. Climate also plays a role in the coloration of polar bear fur. Where colder temperat...
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A listing of the world's largest museums puts the Louvre in Paris on top with 782,910 square feet of floor place. St. Petersburg’s Hermitage comes in a close second with 719,480 square feet. But if you make the comparison based on the number of art pieces in each collection, you get a different picture. The collection at the Louvre conta...
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Ever since I first saw pictures of Machu Picchu and heard about the mysterious ancient city I had a powerful urge to see it for myself. It took a while, but I finally made it, and the spectacular terraced mountaintop ruin was even more magnificent than the pictures.
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When my younger sister decided to leave the east coast behind and attend Colorado State as her college of choice and now permanent home, I knew exciting doors were about to open for my family and me. We now had a reason to break away from the east coast and venture west for the first time.
During my first trip to the Mile-High City of Denver,...
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What do you think of when you think of Switzerland? The mountains no doubt, the Alps. My earliest memory of Switzerland is the story of Heidi, a young girl living in the mountains. After that I experienced a series of more or less random, unrelated associations. There was Swiss cheese, which I first experienced in cartoons as a comical image o...
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Sigmund Freud theorized that we have multi-track minds, and I’m pretty sure that one track of my mind is always dedicated to music. If there is no music in the environment, there is still always some melody playing in my head. I know many others share this condition. People talk about earworms, tunes that seem to lodge in your head and keep p...
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For me growing up in America, the cultural footprint of Spain was so broad and deep that it almost faded into invisibility. My first history lesson said that Columbus discovered America and claimed it for Spain. I learned to take that assertion with a grain of salt, but it is true that Spain kicked off the wave of exploration and colonization ...
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When I discovered that there are tour operators who will take you to Antarctica, I immediately decided I wanted to go. It seemed the closest to interplanetary travel that I would be able to experience in my lifetime.
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The key to ensuring your family has a wonderful vacation? Make sure the kids do. And the first step towards planning a happy family vacation is to get the family involved. Older children, especially pre-teens, appreciate being asked and even helping research aspects of the trip.
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When I was growing up, there were always animals around. My parents had a Springer Spaniel named Debbie, who seemed enormous, and a grouchy orange cat named Rudolf, who was almost as big as the dog. At my grandfather’s farm I saw chickens, cows, horses, cats, dogs and wild animals too, birds, snakes, raccoons and deer.
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As the first stop for most immigrants coming to America, New York always had its various ethnic neighborhoods based on the historical waves of immigration, retaining some of their former cultures. But in the Midwest where I grew up, culture was diffused. By the time immigrants settled there, they were assimilated.
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Contemplation is about seeing, but a kind of seeing that is much more than mere looking because it also includes recognizing and thus appreciating. The contemplative mind does not tell us what to see, but teaches us how to see what we behold.
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There is no doubt that the United States has undergone a wave of heightened culinary sophistication over the last 30 years. Americans are more knowledgeable about food, and cuisine is considered a more important part of the travel experience than ever before.
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It’s no wonder so many people take romantic vacations. Travel is close to the very essence of romance. What better way to ignite passion, or to celebrate it, than to run away together? When a couple is swept away by wild romance, it follows naturally that they want to go off together to some romantic setting, such as Rio, Paris, Tahiti, Hawai...
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In spring, a man’s thoughts turn to… travel… at least mine do. How nice to hear that song this morning on the radio about the unforgettable experience of April in Paris! It tells of someone who never really experienced the full impact of spring before experiencing it in Paris. I think that’s a true story. There are many ti...
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At the end of the year, when the calendar turns over and it’s not just a new month but there is a new number on it, it’s hard to avoid taking a reckoning of the fact that another year has slipped into the past, never to return again. And there are only so many of them allotted to each of us. It’s always a reminder that whatever yo...
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I came across an article the other day that caught my eye called “Advice From a 104-Year Old Doctor.” Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara of Tokyo certainly had some interesting things to say, but the thing that struck me most was this: “Energy comes from feeling good, not from eating well or sleeping a lot.”
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The history teachers who taught me revered accuracy. So it is with a certain rebelliousness that I now confess how much British history I actually learned from the movies. Subject to artistic license, society’s shifting attitudes, and the almighty goal of fast-paced storytelling, film has never been the most accurate art form.
But there was n...
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I awake this cold morning in the Green Mountains of Vermont to thoughts of India, a sense of it hovering around me, as if I am stepping hazily out of a forgotten dream. Perhaps it’s something still reverberating on the mountain surfaces from when Rudyard Kipling wrote “The Jungle Books” in a house in Dummerston, Vermont, a few mil...
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Thanksgiving weekend is considered to be the heaviest travel weekend of the year, but it’s different from most travel. For most people Thanksgiving is a special day once a year for spending time with family or close friends. It’s not necessarily a trip back home in the geographical sense, but it’s a journey back home for the ...
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In college, as soon as I saw Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, I knew I had to go to Italy. I was no princess like the one she plays in the movie, but I was almost as dutiful – and did I ever want to run away to the freedom and fun of discovering Rome on a Vespa with Gregory Peck! Italy has often been an escape for people who long to experienc...
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When it comes to wowing our guests with movie-set scenery and scenarios they’ll long remember, our own Brenda MacKellar, tour architect for our Italy trips, is a magic-maker extraordinaire. So when the folks from public television’s Music Voyager series wanted to film the highlights of Italy for upcoming episodes for their eighth ...
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In a materialistic society we are highly conscious of what we lose as we get older and see the physical perfection and vitality of youth slipping away. But there are gains, too, as we get older, though they are more inward and subtle.
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Most of my travel has been an outward reach, venturing farther and farther from home and the familiar. But recently I had occasion to return to the town I grew up in and left behind decades ago. Returning to a long-abandoned home is a different kind of travel, a different kind of discovery.
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In America we still have debates about biological evolution, but no one doubts social evolution. Looking back to the ‘80s, ‘70s, ‘60s and ‘50s or a hundred years before, the changes are too dramatic to deny. One field of activity that is particularly affected by the restless winds of change is travel.
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If the purpose of travel is to expand the mind and enlarge one’s perspective, there is no more challenging destination for an American than Vietnam. If your purpose is to experience exotic beauty there is none more poignant than that of the ancient culture of Indochina. It requires a new definition of beauty. But Vietnam is unique even beyond...
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As long-standing members of the United States Tour Operators Association, founded as a tour operator advocacy group to safeguard travelers’ interests, foster trust and encourage high standards of tourism around the world, we were invited to take part in their “Why We Travel” campaign.
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I heard that being a grandparent was one of the greatest things that could happen to you, and I believed it because of how profoundly being a parent changed my life, and how fondly I remember my grandparents.
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I keep running into Hemingway. On a recent visit to Cuba, I discovered that Hemingway lived in Cuba for 20 years and wrote seven books there, including A Moveable Feast. That was the first Hemingway book I ever read, the first book assigned in my freshman English class, and is still my favorite Hemingway book.
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As a child I came across a book in my mother’s bookcase that she had brought with her from England called “How Much Do You Know?” It was an old, tattered volume that she must have had since she was a child. It was a little treasure chest of questions and answers about all sorts of fascinating facts. It was there that I first encou...
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My wife returned home the other day with a handful of packages, breaking into conversation as she came through the doorway. “I stopped at that store we don’t like,” she told me. I knew what she meant. The little convenience store a block from our home had been our go-to place for a generation. We saw it pass from father to son. We...
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When I was a child, my mother introduced me to Masterpiece Theatre, and I was hooked. The costume dramas, distant places, and different manners captivated me. My Brady Bunch-loving friends thought I was weird, but that didn’t matter. I was already discovering one of the happiest truths of my life, that the British and the Irish share an uncanny kna...
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While we were discussing travel, someone said “serendipity” and the word danced into the room like a melody. Serendipity – what a charming word! I had a feeling of the word from its context, but it’s mysterious. So I went in search of a definition.
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Traveling would be worthwhile if only for the fact that it is good discipline. No matter how many possessions you have accumulated, when you travel you have to leave everything behind except what you can carry from place to place. You must streamline your existence to a bare minimum. That is a huge accomplishment in itself and a major component of ...
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No other place could possibly loom larger in my imagination. London is many worlds, layers upon layers, constructed over millennia. From its founding by the Romans as Londinium, London was never just an English city, but was a much larger entity that spread far beyond. It was the center of the largest empire in the world, and though it dismantled i...
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I have been forever spoiled.
If I ever go back to France to explore Provence, it will have to be this way.
It's all Tauck's "fault": The travel company ferried me along the Rhone River for my first experience (starting in Paris) in this French region, giving me such a unique taste of luxury, fun and adventure that I cannot imagine a better way.
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On the morning of April 1 I awoke in my favorite part in Southern Vermont to find that it had snowed eight inches the night before, placing a soft, fresh layer on top of the crusty snow that had accumulated and hardened over the winter. Then when I returned to the same place in the last week of April, it had transformed almost beyond recognition. I...
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It was in the early days of having a GPS that I first noticed a change. I was on my way to a New Year’s party. I wasn’t familiar with the area, but I had typed it into the GPS so I was sure of making it. That thing would get me there one way or another. If I made a wrong turn, it would recalculate and get me to my destination from where...
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After touring Cuba (and boy, was that great!) I returned to a pile of tasks that had to be done. The pile was messy and stale. So on Monday morning I launched into it, bore down and by the end of the day I was feeling pleased at how much I had gotten done.
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Some people say they have “done” France and cross if off their bucket lists after visiting Paris. I’m not a big fan of that kind of bucket list. By that logic, someone could cross the USA off their bucket list after visiting Los Angeles. And they would know about as much about America as an ant knows about an elephant.
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In my life books and travel have always been inextricably linked, so much so that it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Like length and width, they seem to be two essential aspects of the same thing.
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People who grew up in New York City had it all, everything that self-contained wonderland had to offer. But a native New Yorker could never experience what I experienced coming from a small midwestern town to New York City, where practically everywhere I looked I found myself gazing upon some iconic monument that had lived in my imagination as long...
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Today some people get so depressed by bad news they barely want to get off their couches and go out into the real world anymore. And that’s really sad because one of the best antidotes to depression is to go traveling.
The news ain’t what it used to be back in the day when Americans turned on the 6 o’clock news and there was Walt...
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Everyone has certain affinities and personal interests they are drawn to, some of which seem to be inborn, others which are acquired along the way. Some human universals can be seen everywhere there are people. But food, clothing and shelter are never generic. They always appear through the respective cultural prisms of each place.
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One of the most wonderful things about travel is that no place is ever quite what you expect when you encounter it for the first time. Our preconceptions are composites of impressions compiled over years, forming a mental model. But that model is only a mental construct and will shatter the moment we encounter the real thing. And what a glorious sh...
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Every December I look forward to the time I can pull out the video of a 1951 English movie called “Scrooge.” It’s a cinematic retelling of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” starring a charming Scottish actor named Alastair Sim as Scrooge.
For those who don’t know the story, it’s about a mean old m...
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In 2014 three countries in West Africa were struck with an epidemic of the lethal virus Ebola. Although it only took hold in three small countries, it devastated the tourism industry on the whole continent of Africa for more than a year...
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When you come from a landlocked city and state, the thought of a trip to Hawaii is ocean, white sand beaches, ocean, pink sand beaches, more ocean, tropical breezes, and did I mention the ocean… Throughout the years, my family thought of Hawaii as the ultimate destination for the ultimate dream trip to experience a magical tropical...
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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love gathering with family and
friends over wonderful food, and at my house, even though my teenagers
think it’s a little hokey, we go around the table and say what we’re
thankful for. But until I went to the Norman Rockwell Museum in
Stockbridge, Massachusetts, I admit I hadn’t given a...
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A small town called Oberammergau has all the beautiful touches you might expect to see in a village in the Bavarian Alps: quaintly crafted alpine style chalets with flowers overflowing from their window boxes, ancient cobblestone streets lined with shops and cafes, and the misty silhouettes of the mighty Alps looming in the background. It’s a...
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It’s one of the oldest holidays in the world, one day put aside each year to honor deceased loved ones and their ancestors. Traditions vary from place to place depending on individual cultures and customs, but many include costumes, trick or treating, pranks and games. But no matter how different the Halloween celebration, there is one thing ...
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On some trips I like to travel independently, but when I want to really discover a new destination I like traveling with a professional tour operator who can take care of all sorts of things I know nothing about and guide me to the best possible experience of the place.
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Inspiration can be a funny thing. It seems to come to us in as many different ways as there are people to be inspired in the first place. Sometimes, it’s experiencing a great work of art – like, say, gazing transfixed at Rembrandt’s The Night Watch in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam – that does it. Or maybe it's standing in rou...
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A friend from my high school days recently asked me on Facebook when I was going to retire. I said, “It should be soon. I want to retire so I can travel and write.” But that is mainly what I do now, so I’m not sure how it will be different. Am I retired now? I’m not sure.
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Wow, when you talk to someone who absolutely radiates joy when you ask them about their job, that’s when I want what they’re having. And in this case, so do hundreds of others, guests and staff alike, who have experienced the passion and pride that Tauck employee, and recently anointed riverboat godmother, Kristin Robinson, instills in ...
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AHHH! Fall has arrived, and what a relief! September has broken the iron grip of the Dog Days and brought in those moderate days when conditions seem perfect for human comfort. A cool breeze caresses your cheek. The sun has taken on a new, softer and lower angle, casting long shadows that emphasize the features of everything its oblique rays fall u...
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My friend Dan Mahar, the CEO of Tauck, has a name for something that is very important to him, as it is to me. Dan calls it “Vitamin N.” Simply put, it refers to the health-promoting benefits of nature.
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Whoever invented the concept of “all inclusive” must have been a genius. Or maybe there was no single inventor, but it was just an idea that had to happen. In any case, the idea of an all-inclusive vacation experience has certainly struck a chord. Any travel product labeled “all inclusive” gets a favorable reception.
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In a group of friends the other night someone raised the subject of solo travel and it led to a lively, extended conversation with a number of people chiming in with various points of view. I had not realized the extent to which traveling solo is becoming a very popular way to travel.
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Making the most of the sunshine, the setting and seasonal ingredients, there’s nothing like a picnic to whet your appetite for discovery during your summer vacation – like pique-niques in France, a basket-packed lunch with the Big Five and friends in Ngorongoro Crater or a mid-day fresh air meal overlooking Yosemite National Park from a...
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By the age of 14 I had never crossed an international border. The nearest one was hundreds of miles away and my prospects of getting there were not good. But fortunately for me the international travel experience came crashing into my world, into my own bedroom.
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Summertime dining all over the world is synonymous with outdoor feasts, especially barbecues, aka South African braais, Australian barbies, Argentinian asados and Hawaiian luaus to name a few… And depending on where your wanderings take you, you can taste authentic culinary traditions in every sizzling bite.
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Sometimes you just have to unplug! I am sitting by the Rock River in Vermont, and the water is so clear you can see the bottom of the swimming hole. No one filters the water, it just flows down the mountains that way. You can drink it. It’s a revelation for a city dweller to come out into the country...
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Family travel is the most natural thing in the world. Before the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago, family travel didn't have a name. It was just "life." When we talk about family travel, we are getting very close to the core of human existence. We modern humans are evolved from people who traveled in extended family groups their whole live...
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Where you stay when you travel is an integral part of the total vacation experience. Whether you are exploring wilderness wonderlands like our national parks, Europe’s sophisticated capital cities, Latin American villages paused in time or exotic destinations in far away lands, your accommodations can enrich or enrage depending on your intere...
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A tour was never just a series of places on a map. In Arthur Tauck Sr.’s historic first classified ad for a tour of New England he used the word “party” three times in just a few sentences. He knew what he wanted.
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The summer crowds are gone. The fresh crisp air creates a new energy and a new sense of beginning. Much of Europe and the US is at its most scenic and most culturally exciting. Fall is simply a wonderful time to travel. For an unforgettable trip, here’s where you should go…
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With all the parades, barbecues, holiday sales and general hoopla that has come to characterize the Memorial Day weekend as the annual kickoff to the summer season throughout the U.S., it’s become easy to lose sight of the true purpose of the observance… to remember and honor those Americans who have given their lives in the service of...
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When we pulled up to the safari lodge and got out of the car, I found myself enveloped in a rich, fresh atmosphere, surrounded by green plants and trees, and a sense of calm and well being descended upon me. We followed a wooden plank walkway over a tiny pond to the registration desk at the main lodge. There was an instant change in my mood just be...
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When I was 10 years old, my Girl Scout troop went to Mount Rushmore. I said “went” but the trip involved so much more. We had to plan the trip (each step of planning fueled my anticipation!). We had to read and research about where we were going (at a library, as nobody in my troop had heard of the internet then). We had to raise money ...
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On a recent trip one of my fellow travelers asked me if I am afraid to travel to Europe now. At first I drew a blank, not understanding what he was talking about. But after a moment I realized he was referring to terrorist attacks that have taken place in Europe over the last year. And then I wondered to myself: Why is it that I don’t react t...
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As a Tauck Director, I am incredibly familiar with the itineraries I run. I am often asked if I get bored running the same tour over and over. I don't get bored, as each week feels different than the week before. With all the familiarity of the tour I sometimes forget that I, too, can be moved by the same experiences as my guests.
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Lisa Miller joined her parents on Tauck's journey through Northern India in late 2015. Her father's bucket list had long been topped by the Taj Mahal, the monument that also held a special place in her mother's memory. In 1967, Lisa's mother had visited the Taj Mahal with her own mother. It was now her turn to re-create that kind of touchstone mome...
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It was the week of the full moon when I took the tour of Yellowstone in winter, and with the moon reflecting brightly from mountains blanketed with snow, it was as exotic as any place I have ever seen. It was an enchanted world, so drastically different from my customary frame of reference it was as if I’d been transported to another planet, ...
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Sailing aficionados love the meditative state of sailing, finding balance with the natural elements, attuning oneself to the rhythms of waves, gravity and wind. Sailing is one of the most ancient activities of humankind.
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In 1989-90, as Tauck approached its seventh decade as a travel leader specializing in North American tours and cruises, Arthur Tauck Jr. and tour architects Scott Supernaw and Herbert Wiese headed off to Europe for on-the-road, hands-on, in-depth crafting of Tauck's first European itineraries – checking out cities, towns, villages and destina...
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The other day I asked my friend Arthur Tauck, the dean of escorted tour operators, the question he has no doubt heard thousands of times: What is your favorite destination?
“Wherever the sun shines and you’re traveling with new friends,” he said.
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It goes without saying that an escorted tour to America’s national parks is a visual feast. But while your eyes gorge on gorges like the Grand Canyon, a deep dish of layered sand and limestone cascading one mile down; rock candy landscapes peppered with a salt lake (think Utah, home to five national parks and dusted with deserts and an &ldquo...
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There is arguably no more exotic destination for an American traveler than Cuba. You can get on a plane in Miami and in less than an hour step off into a world that is so removed from what you left behind it seems like another planet.
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When Disneyland shared the news that some Frontierland attractions would be closed in 2016, I began thinking about the changed nature of the Western frontier. The West is where young men were once told to go, with a promise of natural riches: abundant beauty, resources and wildlife. And the good news is that in Alaska, natural beauty, resources an...
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If a tour operator could put wings, or wheels, or even feet on a hotel it would solve so many problems! A tour operator has to parcel out the 24-hour day so that it includes time for the necessary functions of sleeping, eating, bathing and transportation, and still have enough time to get an enriching experience of the travel destination.
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Some couples really know how to live. Take my mother and stepfather. After they got married, in a garden in California, they went on a yearlong honeymoon in Europe. That’s right. An entire year. They sojourned at a 19th-century spa in Hungary, looked at art in France, investigated the pubs of Dublin, explored Loch Lomond in Scotland… a...
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Traveling is good for the mind and soul. It affects you long after you get home. I believe my travels have fundamentally changed the way I experience life, even when I am not traveling. It’s as though I am always on a trip now, even when I am home. I had an experience that brought that home to me vividly a few weeks ago.
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To me, from the wonderful “big hats” worn – and Mint Juleps sipped – by spectators at Louisville’s Churchill Downs to the garland of red roses adorning the winning horse, the Kentucky Derby is all about tradition. Some of the Derby’s many time-honored traditions date all the way back to the famous annual thorough...
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I remember when taking pictures was expensive. You would buy the film and then would have to pay to develop it after you got home from your trip. You wouldn’t know if the pictures were any good until you got home. I would take a few rolls of 24 or 36 exposures on a trip and each frame was like gold. I took pictures very sparingly.
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The National Park Service turns 100 in 2016, shining a spotlight on those national treasures gifted to us by statesmen and visionaries like John Muir who said: “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” We believe that, and so do the thousands of guests who have not only visited the parks with us since 1925, but also helped us &ld...
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It’s a tradition that dates back centuries and one that never fails to bridge cultures and countries with a taste of good tidings and heartfelt holiday cheer. I’m talking cookies… spritzed, sprinkled, shaped, sugared and shared, neighbor-to-neighbor, in the spirit of the giving season.
Christmas cookies, or biscuits as they are...
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Many people in Asia believe that the horn of the rhino ground into powder is good medicine for a variety of ailments. The belief goes back thousands of years, and though there is little scientific evidence to support it, it’s possible that rhino horn may have some health benefits. But there are four and a half billion people in Asia. If even ...
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Certain European luxury hotels are like a book you can’t put down – a world within a world so captivating that when the time comes you have to tear yourself away. I don’t just mean five-star hotels; I’m talking about five-star hotels in a class of their own – so atmospheric and rich with the personality, and fascinatin...
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Exploring the Danube River on Tauck’s The Blue Danube river cruise a few years ago caused me to rapidly fall head-over-heels in love with some of the great cities I visited along the “River of Kings” – from Vienna to Budapest and beyond, as the Danube winds all the way to the Black Sea and Bucharest. And being the movie buff...
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I believe each person comes into the world with a unique purpose. We all have certain gifts, and in exchange for the supreme privilege of living we must use our gifts to bring something of value into the world before we pass on. We each discover our own purpose by listening to our own hearts, or as Joseph Campbell put it,
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We’re dishing up some of our favorite around-the-world holiday recipes… so you can enjoy them at home! Travel is all about experiencing a taste of life in new destinations. So it comes as no surprise that, for many of us, food plays a big role in the memories we bring home with us after our travels afar. If you’ve been dreaming o...
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Sharing the gift of travel with family or a special loved one is a way to create a legacy of shared experiences. It means forging wonderful memories together, bringing families and dear friends closer together.
Travel is a gift that leads to learning and inspiration. It sparks curiosity and deepens one’s appreciation for the world, which mea...
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If you’re the kind of person who wants adventure… to get so close to a wild elephant that you can see her eyelashes… then you’re just like our Earth Journeys guests, who spend many hours learning about animals in the wild – as they hunt, feed, play, nurture their young. Truth is, to fully understand the motivations ...
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Just as in the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales… the half-timbered villages, looming castles and deep forests along the Rhine offer places with a sense of the magical. For me, the river’s magic is like a fairy tale, for along its path are places with stories that intrigue and landscapes that spark the imagination. There are towns and ...
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If you’re like me, most years you scramble to come up with a clever Halloween costume at the last minute – an impossible task involving a lot of panic. But last year was different; the Creative team at Tauck planned ahead and dressed up as the first Tauck tour (1925) – complete with Studebaker; not bragging, but we won the office...
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Lovers know France best. What romantically inspired traveler has not dreamed of exploring a country where its rivers, like its wines, flow with irresistible invitations to drink in the intoxicating beauty of landmarks, landscapes and lifestyles that reward body, mind and soul.
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With only months away from the US National Park Service celebrating their Centennial year in 2016, I’ve been thinking a lot about America’s national parks and monuments, and what a treasure they are to we citizens of these United States. Because sometimes we might take them for granted, forgetting the often decades-long struggles that h...
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What makes Culturious group travel a different kind of Tauck experience? I thought it might be helpful to share the perspectives of some recent Culturious travelers who are also very experienced Tauck travelers.
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Perhaps because I’m Italian-American (well, half, on my dad’s side) and in the travel field, friends and colleagues have always found it hard to believe that I had never visited Italy, the country that my grandfather Carlo left, on his own, at 17 to make a new life for himself in the United States. But I hadn’t… until just ...
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Before I travel to a new destination, I read about it. I learn about its history and culture. I research the food, traditions, and the weather. I look at pictures, seek out travelers’ reviews and talk to others who have been there. Then I daydream about it.
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France has escargot, chocolate and baguettes. In Italy, it’s pasta and pizza perfection. Burgers and shakes are famous in the US. Spain has paella. Argentina has steaks… but Ireland? If you asked me when I was a college student living in Ireland on a semester abroad decades ago, I would have said potatoes, scones and Guinness in that ...
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The Internet has revolutionized the way we plan vacations, and nowhere is that impact more apparent than in the profusion of online, first-person traveler reviews of hotels, restaurants, guided tours, cruises and attractions. Consider this: One leading travel review website hosts 260 million unique monthly visitors and more than 100 million reviews...
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On April 25, 2015, during the off-season of our Northern India & Nepal itinerary, Nepal was struck early on a Saturday morning by a powerful earthquake. Measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, the quake’s epicenter was some 50 miles away from Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital city. Images of crumbled buildings, dangling wires and cables, and ...
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Given the great speed at which we can routinely travel these days – by jet aircraft, high-speed rail, modern trans-oceanic cruise ships, etc. – the idea of circumnavigating the globe within 80 days may seem trite… and certainly not nearly as daunting as it did back in 1873, when the great science fiction pioneer Jules Verne's cl...
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When families travel together, one of the big challenges is to make museums enjoyable for all ages – because, frankly, if the kids aren’t having fun, nobody’s having fun. But if just the mention of the word “museum” causes your children’s eyes to glaze over, you are not alone. Traditional museums tend to give my...
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On the drive that circles Ireland’s Iveragh Peninsula, known affectionately as the “Ring of Kerry,” there is so much to please the eye. Dense forests, slate-colored loughs (lakes), rugged ocean views, picturesque towns, emerald pastures and rising mountains are the stars here in southwestern Ireland – making it one of the c...
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The warmth and style of the Italian people, and their remarkable art, architecture, food and wine attract millions of visitors to Italy each year. In designing our Italy trips, we work hard to find ways to share this abbondanza authentically and personably.
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Each year Tauck works with thousands of partners in the travel and hospitality industry who play vital roles in helping us to deliver extraordinary escorted tours around the globe. Our partners range in size from multinational companies to country-, region- and city-specific experts, and small local services and individuals.
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No matter how often I tell the story of the first Tauck tour, I find myself chuckling at the image of my traveling salesman father, born Arthur Tauchnitz, taking my grandmother Theresa, my sister Meredith, a Bristol Myers employee who heard about the trip from my mother, a worker at Prudential who was recruited by another of our relatives who worke...
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My daughter, Isabel, gazes at the Eiffel Tower, all lit up and glittering against the night sky. She’s seventeen, but I’ve never seen this expression on her face before – the look of wonder mixed with joy. The light plays across her face. We stand on the deck of the riverboat on the Seine, arms wrapped around each other, looking u...
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Tauck’s partnerships with top venues around the world mean that our guests have access to places that others can only dream about – and to amazing privileged experiences on our travel tours. Here are our Top 5 Tauck Exclusives for 2015, accessible only with Tauck.
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There’s nothing quite like a summer vacation to bring people outside to enjoy the warm weather. Days are brighter longer. Nights invite stargazing. Dining al fresco tempts with views and farm-fresh meals. Walks in the wilderness invite with wonders naturally inspiring, and garden strolls flower with possibilities. You can bike, hike and boat ...
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One of my great pleasures in life is discovering a secret gem – finding a treasure that’s new to me and known to just a lucky few. An out-of-the-way café where the food is delicious... an inviting trail I’ve never seen before... a good writer everyone isn’t talking about yet... and always, always places off the typica...
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For the past 10 years, I have had the pleasure of looking through the
photography submitted for Tauck’s Travel Photo Contest. We edit the
best of the authentic photography gifted by our guests for use in our
brochures and on our website.
Quite often I am asked what makes a winning photograph.Below
are some basic suggestions from my expe...
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You don’t have to be a dyed-in-the-wool history buff like me to appreciate the work of filmmaker Ken Burns, whose acclaimed documentaries over the past 30+ years have transformed the way we look at American history, and at the nature of the American experience itself. Admittedly, I’ve been a fan of Ken’s work since his earliest do...
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After the long hot days of summer, when high humidity can make you wilt and the heat literally takes your breath away, fall blows in with seasonal treats that chill with delights. For those of us over 40 folks, the term “chill” in hip, modern-day vernacular has taken on new meaning. Instead of portending ominous shivers and almost freez...
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What do the Smithsonian Institution, Sir Paul McCartney, and Sir Elton John have in common? All three own works by artist DG House – known for her vibrant paintings of Western wildlife and one of the distinguished American Indian artists-in-residence in Grand Teton National Park whom Tauck guests are meeting at Tauck Exclusive private present...
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Among the countless places that Tauck visits around the globe, there are certain must-see destinations / experiences that light up the imaginations of kids, parents and grandparents alike. We’ve chosen seven of these top must-do’s for families, all of which inspire multi-generational fun and learning on Tauck Bridges family travel adven...
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I am certainly no expert on horses. I appreciate their power and beauty, and enjoy watching them at races, rodeos, equestrian events and in Westerns. But the fact is that I’ve only been atop or in close proximity with horses a handful of times in my life. And I recently realized that most of those moments have occurred on Tauck trips. So I th...
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If you were looking for expert insights on the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln, you’d need go no further than Harold Holzer. A leading scholar on the 16th U.S. president and the political culture of the Civil War, Mr. Holzer has written over 500 articles and reviews for various magazines and scholarly journals, and is the author, co-author...
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It hasn’t really soaked in yet, and perhaps never will. I can hardly believe that I actually sat in a room and had a conversation with Winston Churchill’s granddaughter. It’s as close as I could get to meeting Churchill himself, and something akin to having a conversation with Abraham Lincoln or Mark Twain.
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In the Netherlands, Belgium and France, 2015 will be marked by a series of cultural events and unique exhibitions to honor the 125th year since the death of Vincent van Gogh. As a Tauck traveler, you’ll have opportunities to experience one or more of them on one of our European river cruises, or perhaps during a pre- or post-stay. Below are s...
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When I travel, the reason I remember a place long after being there is that it represents far more than a place in my memories. It’s a place that brings to mind an experience. Perhaps I gained an understanding of the history that shaped its people, or truly connected with someone I met there, or identified with the story underneath.
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As the sound of children caroling on the steps of the Church of Our Lady filled the air, I sipped a mug of feuerzangen – Nürnberg’s signature hot wine-and-rum punch – nibbled a marjoram-flavored bratwurst, and plotted my next move.
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If Italian cities were meals, for me Venice would be a dessert – impossibly frothy yet perfectly rich – a place to get happily lost in, so far removed from the meat and potatoes of my home in New England that just strolling the picturesque streets or gliding down a canal gives me something like a sugar rush. I’ll never forget the ...
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As a Tauck tour architect, when I redesigned our “England, Scotland & Wales” trip for 2015, I wanted to provide our guests with special events that they would never otherwise have access to – events featuring remarkable people in quintessentially British places. Carlton House, in London, with its illustrious and royal heritage...
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I had heard about the growing popularity of river cruising for years but as a first timer, until I stepped aboard my riverboat in France for a trip on the Rhône, I really didn’t know what to expect. Did I have any preconceptions? Absolutely. I imagined a slow moving boat, confining cabin space and an older crowd among them, thinki...
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We’re always on the road at Tauck, and through trial and error we’ve each discovered the items we really can’t leave home without. Common travel basics, like power cords and universal adapters, are important, but we also absolutely need a few other small things that make a big difference to comfort and convenience when we’re...
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Dining is a huge part of travel. Culinary specialties differ around the world, ensuring visitors an authentic taste of life in the places they’re exploring. But it’s not just the food that tempts my appetite for travel, it’s also the romantic “place settings” that make my mouth water for a unique dining experience I co...
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I wrote this on January 2nd from InterContinental Paris Le Grand Hotel, an icon of luxurious Parisian society since 1862 in the heart of the City of Light!
Here in Paris, and in Yosemite in December, 300 Tauck guests and dozens of staff “rang in 2015 and our 90th Year” at two extraordinary Tauck Events – "The Tauck Yosemite Event...
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On our "Manitoba: Polar Bear Adventure", United States Tour Operators Association blogger Ashley Castle discovers the intrepid residents of Churchill, Canada... and gets up close and personal with a polar bear. This blog originally appeared on USTOA.com at https://ustoa.com/blog/touring-manitoba-with-tauck
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If the mere thought of spending a long cold winter inside has you shivering with dread, consider making plans to join in one of the most colorful celebrations around the world that parade into February with all the heat and excitement of a summertime soiree.
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United States Tour Operators Association blogger Ashley Castle travels with us to Churchill, Alaska on action-packed Manitoba: Polar Bear Adventure and tells all. This blog originally appeared on USTOA.com at https://ustoa.com/blog/an-experience-in-the-polar-bear-capitol-of-the-world
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It seems that as soon as you’ve made your holiday list and checked it twice, it’s time to make those New Year’s resolutions again. The annual ritual to mark the changing of the years with new wishes has become a tradition for so many of us – one that got its start long ago.
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It’s been a busy month at Tauck getting ready for our 2015 travels, but we've also found time for lots of fun, celebrating the holiday season in the office and around the world – and giving back to our wonderful community.
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Before I travel to a new destination, I read about it. I learn about its
history and culture. I research the food, traditions, and the weather. I
look at pictures, seek out travelers’ reviews and talk to others who
have been there. Then I daydream about it.
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We received this charming photo from the grandparent of a child who had visited the Sistine Chapel on a Tauck after-hours Vatican tour visit with her family. Absorbed in the moment, she is taking in Michelangelo’s magnificent frescoes above, while listening to Tauck’s local guide share their stories. To me, her image portrays what it me...
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Louis Armstrong once said, “Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine – I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans... It has given me something to live for.” Although he hit it big in Chicago in the 1920s and later became a legend throughout the world, Armstrong was a New Orleans native. To me, “Satchmo&...
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It was a great honor to have special guest D-Day veteran Lieutenant Irwin Stovroff sail with us to Normandy on "Rendezvous on the Seine" this summer; meeting him and hearing about his experiences was by far the highlight of the trip for guests and our team alike. The day before we arrived at the D-Day beaches, Irwin told the group his gripping stor...
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Luxury hotels offer many a worldly pleasure, but only a select few can be described as otherworldly. With Halloween on the horizon, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite haunted luxury hotels… Read on, if you dare…
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I had the pleasure of speaking with Robert (“Bud”) Frame about his
family’s Tauck Bridges experience in Italy. The trip was the culmination
of two years of planning, the time it took to get 25 Frame family
members aligned and ready to head to Rome as a single group last April.
“Just finding the time to meet to talk about the...
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I’m not a scary movie fan, but come Halloween… I do love a good thrill,
especially one with a sense of humor. And that’s just what comes to mind
when I think of Ichabod Crane, plodding home alone on a dark autumn’s
night, past a menacing swamp, across a haunted bridge, after an evening
of ghostly tales… as he...
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With America enthralled by Ken Burns’s epic new documentary, "The Roosevelts: An Intimate History," we’re proud to announce that during our New York City Event, an in-depth, five-day exploration of New York City, Burns himself will be there to provide insights on the Roosevelt family. The Event will take place October 1 – 5, 2015,...
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